The Satellite Story (1 of 27)

The Satellite Story

Once upon a time, way back in the 1950s, the world was a very different place.
In those days, world news was old news by the time it reached the telly.
You had to pre-book a line to telephone America.
And unpredictable weather meant thousands of lives were lost every year as ships ran aground and hurricanes arrived unexpectedly.
And then something happened that would change the world beyond recognition.
Ignition...
We entered the satellite age.
And nothing has been the same since.

This is the story of how we built satellites, and how satellites built the modern world.
1957.
The United States was on the march.
No-one was in any doubt that America, the ultimate frontier nation, was about to lead us boldly into the space age.
NEWSREEL: 'Space travel became headline news with the announcement 'that the United States plan to launch their first satellite by 1957.
'This was followed by reports of a similar project under way in Russia.' American confidence that they'd be first in space was based on the assumption, which seemed to be rock solid, that Americans are better than Soviets at anything to do with science or technology.
And therefore they almost didn't really even need to think about this possibility of the Soviets being first in space.
'But American scientists have been developing a man-made space marvel - the first Earth satellite.
'They've designed apparatus for coating it with a protective covering 'to withstand the extremes of temperature in outer space.
'The satellite is due to be launched before the end of next year.' And then, out of the blue, came the news that no-one in the West had been expecting.